A new report from the Irish Concrete Federation and RPS Consulting warns that Ireland’s future housing and infrastructure plans are at risk due to critical challenges in the supply of essential aggregates like sand and gravel.
The Irish Concrete Federation (ICF) has published a new report which highlights critical challenges facing Ireland’s future supply of essential aggregates – crushed stone, sand and gravel – upon which the delivery of ambitious national programmes, including Housing for All, the National Development Plan, and Project Ireland 2040, are highly dependent.
Irish Concrete Federation
Titled ‘ESSENTIAL AGGREGATES – An Evidence-Based Assessment to Inform Ireland’s Planning Policy’, the report provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of Ireland’s aggregate supply pipeline and was commissioned by ICF and undertaken by RPS Consulting.
Aggregates such as sand, gravel and crushed rock, are vital raw materials for the construction of essential development of homes, schools, hospitals and energy, water and transport infrastructure.
One billion tonnes of aggregates are needed
By 2040, Ireland will need an estimated one billion tonnes of aggregates. However, new planning authorisations for the continued extraction of aggregates are not keeping up with demand, and decisions are taking more than four times the statutory requirement.
Warning about the key findings of the report, Gerry Farrell, CEO, ICF, commented: “Ireland has natural reserves of high-quality aggregates, which are essential raw materials for Ireland’s future infrastructure requirements. Yet current planning decision timelines and a lack of a coordinated policy on the long-term sustainable supply of aggregates will threaten Ireland’s ability to meet future demand for housing and infrastructure projects.
“On average, only 61% of annual consumption of aggregates is currently being replenished by means of new planning authorisations. At current levels of authorisation, that will fall to 52% over the 2025 – 2040 period as demand for aggregates increases due to Ireland’s growing population.”
Quarry planning decisions too slow
The report has found that quarry planning decisions in 2024 took over four times longer than the statutory timeframe for such decisions. There is a statutory objective for planning applications to local authorities that are appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála to be decided on within 30 weeks.
Gerry Farrell explained: “This report found that quarry development applications from 2017 up to 2024 are delayed in the planning system for 91 weeks on average. In 2024 alone, decision-making timeframes had increased to 129 weeks. Add in a year for the detailed pre-planning work required and the considerable expense involved, and this unacceptable and costly delay can cause great uncertainty throughout the aggregate materials supply chain.
“We are calling very clearly for the government to act and make a National Policy Statement, which recognises the national strategic importance of Ireland’s reserves of aggregates for the country’s future development. This will ensure that these raw materials, which are a finite resource and whose geographical location is fixed, are extracted in a sustainable and regulated manner compatible with the protection of the environment, heritage and quality of life of residents.”
Other report recommendations
The report also recommends:
– Enhanced resources for local planning authorities and the newly established An Coimisiún Pleanála for training and education on aggregate extraction
– Greater alignment between national policy objectives and regional and local planning strategies for the supply of aggregates.
The report also warns that national strategic plans, such as ‘Project Ireland 2040’ and ‘Housing for All’, will be highly dependent on a reliable supply of high-quality aggregates and the government’s anticipated delivery of new infrastructure including its commitment to double the current annual delivery of new homes to 60,000 in the coming years, underlining the need for secure supplies of aggregates into the medium and longer term.
Allowing for population growth and increased demand, the pressure to supply authorised aggregates can only be expected to increase. The Office of the Planning Regulator has recently noted that: “Quarries and the extractive industry provide valuable sources of raw materials which are critical to the construction industry, infrastructure development and maintenance in particular.”
The report concludes that a more strategic approach to the extractive industry is needed. The government must take steps to safeguard this finite resource and ensure a sustainable supply of aggregates for the future.
The full report is available to download at www.irishconcrete.ie